First Ever Friend of the Week Wednesday!

I have decided that since my friends mean so much to me (and a lot of them will never get to meet each other), I will profile a different friend every Wednesday! Before anyone's feelings get hurt, it will be in no particular order but probably influenced by whoever I've spent the most time with lately... which might put some of my oldest and best friends to the back of the list, but it's not on purpose!  I just think it will be fun to brag on a fun friend and let everyone else know who it is that I always talk about!

Our Pumpkin Paintings!

And for the first week, I will be profiling Leigh!  We spent tonight painting pumpkins and yesterday on a road trip to KY, so she has certainly earned this honor.  Leigh is one of those people I never expected to become friends with, even though those type of people usually make great friends!  I knew who she was from undergrad, and was surprised to see that in our MAcc classes she was friends with a quiet, conservative classmate even though that didn't fit the description I had heard of her... and I was right, but it helped us figure out fun things that we both liked to do even if Amy thought we were heathens.

In front of the Lincoln statue

Leigh is the type of person who will go on a spur of the moment road trip to KY with you just to dip a bottle in wax even though she got into town late the night before AND stop along the way just to take a picture in the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln!  She will also offer to write anonymous letters when someone's done you wrong or pick you up on a Saturday morning if you're too embarrassed to drive your banged up car to class.  She planned on being a counselor/therapist/psychologist (one of those kinds of things) before switching to accounting, so she is a great listener.  Her honesty and candid ways can sometimes catch people off guard, but it is a lot of fun to not be the only one sticking my foot in my mouth - even if it gets us in trouble with the Becker instructor.

Matt being too outdoorsy...

She will offer to come to lunch when the boys you work with are being dumb, lend you a pair of her running shoes when you can't find yours after moving, and go night fishing even though she's not outdoorsy if you and her boyfriend are excited about it.  Though we both hope that this internship turns into a full-time job, we have lots of things to do together like taking pottery classes at Vandy, passing the CPA, profiteering at the duck blind lottery, maybe going to Memphis, holding the spotlight while Matt goes bow fishing, and people watching downtown when I am back in Nashville.  She gave me a book with quotes and verses for each day, so we are going to both start reading it on Monday, Sept 12th to keep in touch about something other than work (even though we'll talk about that too).  I am certainly going to miss her, but we both get to start our new jobs the same weekend and help each other keep our sanity through this new chapter!

What I've Done All Week...

Well - this is for Stephie, my loyal follower and best friend, and for me to keep postponing packing as long as possible!  I can't wait until midnight to pack this time, which kind of stinks... But in case anyone else reads this thing, I will be on the road one week from today.  That means that this is my last week in Nashville for who knows how long, so I had better treat it right!

I guess I will begin by summing up how I spent last week so that I make sure this week is better... and I am really sorry, but this is LONG!

SATURDAY - I went to a middle school football game with two men from my church on a whim just to get out and enjoy a Saturday morning.  It's always fun to go to kids' sporting events where they aren't very good yet, but there is always a kid or two who is freakishly good for their age.  Middle school adds a nice dynamic too where the kids think they are the best thing to ever grace the field.  I explored the town of Lebanon, which you don't pronounce like the country, and found a TON of antique shops.  One was the antique shop for men with tons of taxidermy, knives, and even an electric chair!

SUNDAY - I greeted at Ethos, the amazing church I have been involved with in Nashville for the past three years.  The theme right now is "What if I became more like Jesus?" which is great because so many young people (and old) are bothered by the fact that "Christians" often act nothing at all like Christ.  Breaking down those stereotypes and the negative connotation church has gained is one of the things I like most about Ethos, but that can be its own blog post.  We studied Matthew 6:19-34, which could not have come at a better time.  Ness actually called me while I was greeting near tears about a situation that was stressing her out, and I STILL don't have a place to live in Dallas - so we really needed a talk from Jesus about not worrying.

MONDAY - I made this blog! Work was kind of miserable all week...  I know that I shouldn't complain about having an awesome opportunity and being able to save money to cover paying rent in two places at once, but the boys were being rude.  I was going to say they were being goobers, but they were being rude plain and simple.

TUESDAY - I picked up my diplomas (all three of them!) and had dinner with Leigh and Braxton at Burger Up.  They confirmed my suspicions that the boys were being rude and I just wasn't being sensitive, which is why I love friends like that who would have told me to get over it if I needed to... Leigh also gave me a book with daily quotes and verses about friendship that we are both going to start Sept 12th when we start our new (but different) jobs!

WEDNESDAY - I worked on a place to live and organizing my stuff that is ALL over the townhouse.  I am torn over how much stuff to put away because while I trust my roommates, I would hate for something to happen while I am gone and for that to be awkward and so on... so I am still debating on some things.  I also dealt with my orientation, which included a funny dress code quiz!

THURSDAY - My small group (aka House Church) from last year got together to paint our own pottery and spend time together before I left... It was really fun getting to see everyone, though the teacher and students were clearly already frazzled.  I am really enjoying not being in school, but I can't enjoy it so much that I forget how to study for the CPA (yuck!).  I tried a new technique, which involved blowing bubbles in my glaze.  It was a lot more time-consuming than I expected, so I am interested to see how it turns out!  My second roommate, Anna, finally moved in!  That was really nice because we have been able to spend some time together and plan to really enjoy our eight days of togetherness.

FRIDAY - After my last day at the bank, Paige Reed (she will always be Paige Reed to me, even when she's been married 50 years) and I went to dinner at Suzy Wong's House of Yum.  It was so much fun getting to spend time with her and act like we are cool city-dwellers that go out to hip restaurants and know exactly what to order, but the only easy decisions we made were about our drinks.  When we were on the way home, we stopped by Christopher's house to drop off some boxes I had taken from work.  He didn't answer and clearly didn't want us there, but Paige and I tried really hard to cheer him up!  When I got home, Anna had a friend over so I tried to talk to her for a while, but she was also wanting to wallow in self pity (it's the truth), so it didn't go very well.  Once they left I made a lot of progress in organizing my life (or at least my townhouse) until I got distracted by the policemen searching a car outside.  Long story short, I was going to ask them for help moving my TV stand until I realized what was going on - so instead I was going to take a stroll to the dumpster and investigate.  Anna had my key to the front door, so my curiosity was killed instead of me. 

And now, if you've made it through all that, we are to today! I am working on my room and finishing the downstairs, but I need to know if some big things are going to be taken by Gamma Lambda or if I am still in charge of them.  Thanks for reading this and allowing me to waste WAY too much time!

Here Goes Nothing!

Here I am doing something I kind of told myself I never would - at least not til I had kids or if I went on another great adventure - starting a blog. I think half of my problem is that I just don't like the word "blog."  It sounds a lot like "blah" with some "ugh" added in... who likes the sound of that?!

That being said, don't expect much in terms of profound statements, regular updates, or fancy html-y things to happen on here.  I am only making it because:

• Two of my best friends and I are starting a blog to stay in touch in a different way now that we're all working full time, so I had to get over my hurdle.
• I am going on an adventure of sorts - I'll be starting work at Southwest Airlines in Dallas two weeks from today!
• I already follow a lot of blogs, and wanted to combine the two email addresses I use to follow them all in one place (so efficient of me, but not at all interesting to you).
• AANNDD I wanted to get an extra entry in Caity Shinnick's amazing giveaway!  She is such a wonderful person and I should have known to expect a lot, but I have not wanted to win something this badly in quite a while!

I have also been told on a couple lot of occasions that reading my writing is just like listening to me talk, which I'll admit is usually pretty amusing - except I have my off days, like anyone - so this is probably a good way to keep connected with everyone on this next chapter away from either of my homes.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!

PS It is only honest that I include "This is more fun than packing or organizing" as another reason why I am starting a blog tonight... I can out-procrastinate anyone. Try me.